Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson admits he may have tipped pitches vs. Aaron Judge

There's yet another factor to be considered in the controversy that has exploded out of the Yankees-Blue Jays series this week. 

Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson says he may have been tipping his pitches when Yankees slugger Aaron Judge homered off him after glancing toward the New York dugout in the eighth inning of Monday's game. Jackson told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and FOX Sports that as he threw six straight sliders in the at-bat against Judge, his delivery may have tipped the pitches.

"From what I was told, I was kind of tipping the pitch," Jackson told Rosenthal. "It was [less] my grip when I was coming behind my ear. It was the time it was taking me from my set position, from my glove coming from my head to my hip. On fastballs, I was kind of doing it quicker than on sliders. They were kind of picking up on it."

Judge faced scrutiny not long after he hit the home run on Monday. The announcers on the Blue Jays broadcast noted that Judge was glancing toward the New York dugout during the at-bat and before he hit the home run, which led to a frenzy of allegations on social media.

But multiple people in the Blue Jays organization reportedly told Rosenthal that Jackson's grip was visible to Yankees first base coach Travis Chapman, who then presumably signaled to Judge which pitch Jackson was throwing. Using hand signals to share that information with a player is within the bounds of MLB rules as long as electronics aren't being used to gather that information. 

Jackson, who was sent down to Triple-A following Monday's game, tipped his cap to the Yankees and Judge for figuring him out as the slugger's home run went 462 feet.

"If they knew it was coming and he clipped me, [then] he clipped me," Jackson told Rosenthal. "I’m glad he hit it as far as he did."

Before Jackson's comments, Judge shared prior to Tuesday's game that he was upset with some of the chatter and implications of him being a cheater for what he did prior to hitting a home run in Monday's game.

"I’ve got some choice words about that, but I’m just going to keep that off the record," Judge said.

Members of the Toronto broadcast speculated that Judge was looking for a signal when he was glancing toward the dugout, which Blue Jays manager John Schneider called "kind of odd."

Following Monday's game, Judge said he was glancing toward the New York dugout because his teammates were still yelling at home plate umpire Clint Vondrak, who had ejected Yankees manager Aaron Boone earlier in the at-bat for arguing balls and strikes. 

The tension from Monday spilled into Tuesday's game. Yankees starting pitcher Domingo Germán was ejected for using sticky stuff after pitching three perfect innings. Earlier in the third inning, a shouting match broke out between Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker and Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas after Judge struck out.

Judge was also met with boos from the Toronto crowd when he stepped to the plate on Tuesday. But the reigning AL MVP got the last laugh. He hit a 448-home run in the eighth inning that broke a 3-3 tie en route to a 6-3 Yankees win.

The Yankees and Blue Jays play two more games this week and then don't meet again until September.